Rename "IssueType" field to "WorkType"

Ankit Mahajan July 1, 2022

Since the word "issuetype" implies as if we are referring to issues (Bug etc) and not just work, could we rename "issuetype" field to "WorkType" since it represents work such as Epics, Stories, Tasks etc.

Word "issuetyoe" is very confusing for users who are new to JIRA. It's like retraining your mind that issue means work and not "issue"

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Mayur Jadhav
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July 1, 2022

Hi @Ankit Mahajan ,

I don't think that is something possible in Jira. Basically in Jira we called issues to each workitem and issuetype to workitem type. 

 

 

Cheers,

Mayur

Sam Nadarajan
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July 1, 2022

Hello @Ankit Mahajan, it honestly doesn't seem like a bad idea. Most people I know think of "something is wrong" when they hear the word "issue" but that's not always the case.

I think if you wanted to rename issue type to work type, you'd also want to rename issue to work item, since the two are inextricably linked. 

I personally don't mind the word issue (I know a number of other people refer to issues as tickets)

A case could be made that not all "tickets" or "cards" are work items in Jira. 

Naming is hard in any system though, I can definitely sympathize with the people responsible for naming concepts and important functionality in any system.

What kind of issues (errr situations) have you found that using the term "issue" is not as great as "work"? I'm curious to know what you've experienced!

Nic Brough -Adaptavist-
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July 1, 2022

I don't think "issue" is a good word to use for Jira issues, but it goes to the top of the list because it is less bad than most others.   Story, Ticket, Request, work item, etc - they're all quite narrow definitions.  You don't get stories, tickets or requests in manufacturing projects.  You don't get work items in support projects.  You don't get requests in development projects.  "Issue" isn't great, but it's probably the least worse way to describe the generic thing in Jira that represents "something that needs some attention"

(pet peeve - I hate "ticket" when it's used outside support projects, and I'm not fond of it in support projects.  In English, it's completely the wrong word, and even in support projects, when you're using Jira, it's unhelpful - do you mean the Request that the customer raised, or the Issue that the Agent will work with?  To me, a ticket is something someone gives me so I can show someone else that I'm entitled to a service from them.  Support requests, development stories, Work items, Epics, Features, Bugs, Test cases, etc - they are NOT "tickets")

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Aron Gombas _Midori_
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July 2, 2022

As far as I know, it is not possible to just rename system fields.

An easy to do workaround is if you change the display name of the field by editing the i18n entries (basically the text fragments that are displayed in the browser). See this article.

The disadvantage of this is that in JQL e.g., the field will still be called "issuetype" (but I think "type" will also work, so it may not be a big problem).

Hugo Gómez July 20, 2022

Hey @Ankit Mahajan I hear you!  I've been using Jira for well over 10 years now,  and that has been the single most questioned thing about Jira with the team members that I've worked with. "Issue" is such a bad name!  Story issue, bug issue! -- sheesh

Elsewhere in the community, I've read someone that said that perhaps this was tied to the fact that Jira was born as an issue-tracking system, and it evolved to what it is now, but the "issue" naming has endured all this time. I don't know if it has to do with nostalgia or legacy or backward-compatiblity, but if in two decades the team has not decided to change it, don't hold your breath for it.  I think @Nic Brough -Adaptavist- has a very good point on his response!

Regards!

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